And when the smartphone is used as the camera, the A1 also provides an auto flash exposure mode, as well as the option of manual power settings.

The auto metering is made possible by a small light sensor built into the front of the A1 (which can be attached to the phone via a supplied stick on magnet).

GODOOX A1 / FLASHPOINT M1 FEATURES

8 Watt Flash – GN 8.1m (Iso-100)

Auto (A) Mode: −3 to +3 FEC (In 1/3-stop Increments)

Manual (M) Power Levels: 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16

2.5 Second Recycle Time

8 V, 1000 mAh Lithium-ion Battery – 700 Full Power Flashes.

Flash Color Temperature – 6000K ± 200K

2.4 GHz – 32 Channels (1–32), 16 Groups (0–9, A–F), 80m Range.

433 MHz – 16 Channels (1–16), 6 groups (A–F), 20M Range.

OLED Display

Battery Level Indicator

1 Watt LED Lamp

LED Color Temperature 5600K ± 200K

2.5 mm Sync Port (3V / 3mA)

USB-C Charging Port (55 Minute Recharge).

Dimensions 80×65×23mm

Weight 110g

SMARTPHONE REMOTE CONTROL

For remote control of the Godox 2.4GHz flash system via smartphone APP, the A1 acts as a bridge between the 2 systems.

The A1 uses a Bluetooth 4.0 connection to communicate with the smartphone or tablet, and then converts and relays the signal on to the Godox slave flash units via Godox’s own 2.4GHz X-System radio protocol.

Bluetooth range between the smartphone and A1 is up to 50 meters, and from the A1 to the Godox slave flashes provides up to another 80 meters of range.

A Godox radio transmitter like the XPro or X1 is still used on the camera hotshoe to actually fire the flashes, though they are set to APP mode so that they will only fire the flashes, and not send any power level setting etc.

The smartphone or tablet then controls all of those slave flash settings remotely.

And as well as controlling the Godox strobe flash system, Godox LED video light’s, power levels and color temperature, can also be remotely controlled from the APP.

The current Godox LED video lights use the older 433MHz radio system, so the A1 also provides 433MHz radio capability.

With compatible Godox strobe units, all of their functions can be remotely controlled, including modelling lights, and sound prompt etc.

SMARTPHONE AS CAMERA

The second major function of the A1 is to actually use the smartphone as the camera.

And this can be while either using the smartphone camera with the full system of Godox strobes and modifiers –

Or simply using the A1 itself as the transmitter and flash unit –

It should be noted though, that due to the rolling shutter used in current smartphones, that shutter sync speeds are likely to be limited to around 1/30 – 1/45s or less.

So the overall practicality of using the smartphone with a set of large professional lights and modifiers is likely to still be a little questionable.

Though at the least this may come in handy at times to simply get an image onto your phone quickly for sharing etc.

AS A FLASH UNIT

And the A1 is also a small on and off-camera flash unit itself, with a guide number of 8.1m (at ISO-100).

So it can be used as a very compact impromptu off camera light source for smartphone pictures.

I think it’d be more interesting as something to use on a tablet sized screen. IF the app is good it’d make it far easier still to adjust settings then buttons / switches then on a – by necessity – fairly small trigger.

Yes, Chistof. A Mac/Windows version of the app would be very useful if you were shooting tethered.

In an ideal world Godox would release the spec of the Bluetooth protocol and enterprising people could make things like Lightroom plug-ins. But then in an ideal world the’d have implemented Bluetooth in the XPro 🙂

Generally I think the major advantage of the APP based remotes is the ability to control and store in memory more complex multi light studio set ups.

Having not tried this APP yet I’m really not sure where Godox are up to with this, though its definitely something valuable (though possibly for more refinement in the future).

It would be a great feature to store various set ups in the transmitter as well (and I have suggested that), though at this stage we are still working through some more fundamental things at the moment with regards to the transmitters.

I was trying to figure out how I would use this and then I read your comment about complex lighting storage. Rather than keeping my notebook about how I set up multi unit lighting I’m ‘hoping’ that this will allow me to store those settings electronically. Much like my former CyberCommander unit from PCB where I could store settings on the SD card. I miss that feature so this may be the ticket for me.

I’ll try it as soon as the Android version is released. It will also be much fun to create some camera phone shots with Godox lights. I always tease my clients that ‘some day I hope to take all of the publicity photos with my camera phone!’ so I don’t have to lug gear to and from the airport.

Yes, I’m not sure if the APP has any ability to store lighting set ups at this stage or not, though I would imagine it will surely evolve over time with new functions, as new lights etc come on board as well.

I get the feeling Godox were focusing more on the smartphone as camera side of this to start with, but the APP control for the system is likely where it has the most potential in the short term (until phones take over more from ILC cameras).

This is still shown as pre-order on Adorama. Anyone know anything about shipping date on this? I pre-ordered from Godox and on Sept. 4th received this email:
“We have to apologize for notifying you that A1 has been delayed because the factory detects that there are some minor problems with A1, so we need to wait for the factory to solve these problems before we ship, and I think you do not want to receive a flawed product, and Now the market also did not start the official sale of A1, are still pre-sale status. But in order to express our apology, we will arrange expedited transport for you for free. We also hope that A1 can be sent to your hands as soon as possible.”

I asked on another articule this question, how can someone get help to repair godox products, a friend drop the evolv 200 and can’t seem to find a place to fix it in USA. Is their any Store that provides repair for all godox products?

Sorry not that I know of. I have asked Flashpoint a little while ago if they could look into possibly selling the AD600, and possibly AD200, bare bones flash body alone as a spare part. And they were going to look into that. You could try asking them at brands@adorama.com

Otherwise by the time you factor in parts and labor costs I can’t imagine that would be cheaper than another flash body.

When you buy from stores like Adorama you can also get drop and spill protection at the time of purchase. I think there are similar options on Ebay etc now as well.

Wow. This is actually pretty amazing. I will get one as soon as the android version comes out. I have always wanted a way to use flashes with my phone. If I were to take one of these and a flash (Maybe one of those mini TT350 flashes) along with me, I would be ready to take some killer photos at any point in time with my phone! Maybe I’ll get into the stock photo game now 😛
Also, the added ability to use a touch screen on my phone to control my lighting?! Genus!
Sure, the Xpro is a great option too, but I often do event photography, and I need an on camera flash in addition to my externals.
Godox is a game changer

How serious can godox be taken as a manufacturer if they promise an Android app in September and in December still nothing maand no communication what so ever. Their service and support still is completely nonexistent.

Hey Mr. Flash Havoc- would you poke your Godox contact and ask them if/when they plan to release a major update to the A1 app and/0r firmware to make it actually usable? My wishlist (actually needlist) starts with: make it compatible with dual-lens Apple phones- 7, 8, (and in my case )X. Then- make a default center focus point so the user doesn’t have to press and focus each shot. (The best would be to have it compatible with the native camera app, probably asking too much..)
There are many other tweaks I and other users have been asking for, but at least these two would enable me to start using the thing for real. Some much potential there for mobile photographs, but as of yet all wasted…..

I see that the Godox Photo app for the A1 just got updated to V 1.7.1. It supposedly now supports the telephoto lens on some phones, but I don’t see how to do that on my iPhone X. Can anyone tell me how to access this setting? I’m glad to see they added RAW support and seem to have fixed the dumb thing where you HAD to pick a focus spot before shooting, now there is a center default.
All that’s missing is a square format option, I hope they add that in future update.